Oxford Wrestling Head Coach Scott Couch said at the beginning of the season that the goal this season was to win a State Championship.
The Wildcats are well on their way after claiming the regional title in dominating fashion against Bay City Heritage and Bay City Western on Wednesday, Feb. 17.
‘The guys wrestled great. We came out and had the goal of going to the state tournament, and the two teams that we wrestled against were in our way,? said Couch.
Couch said that the team knew that it was going to be a tough meet, but they wanted to come out and make a statement.
The Wildcats came out and made that statement, overpowering Heritage 67-0 in the opening round before crushing Western 67-10 in the finals.
‘Overall, a great performance and the guys wrestled really, really well and were on our way to our goal of a state championship,? he said. ‘We wanted to leave no doubts that we are ready to go.?
However, the road to the state final doesn’t get any easier. The Wildcats are seeded fourth, but go up against Holt High School, who is 25-2 on the season. Their next would come against the winner of the Detroit Catholic Central/Anchor Bay match.
‘You’re going to have to wrestle the best of the best no matter what. It’s going to be a tough duel meet with Holt and we’ll give it our best shot,? Couch said.
Oxford lost to DCC 33-29 in heartbreaking fashion earlier this year, while they defeated Anchor Bay 59-15.
The Wrestling state finals will be held at the Kellogg Arena in Battle Creek on Friday, Feb. 26 and Saturday, Feb. 27.
Oxford also qualified eight wrestlers for the individual state finals, which will be held at the Palace of Auburn Hills on March 4-6.
Three wrestlers claimed individual regional titles: Keegan Cantara at 103 lbs., Jacob Peasley at 112 lbs. and Matt Frisch at 140.
Cantara defeated Rockford’s Tyler VanRooyan 10-8 in the finals; Peasley defeated Markus Gonzales of Bay Central 6-5; Frisch defeated Colin Bertucci by pinfall 4:57 into the match.
Frisch also got his 150 victory of his high school career during the individual regionals.
Other wrestlers who qualified for states include Prescott Line at 215 lbs., Rocco Borg at 103 lbs., Kyle Hill at 119 lbs., Ben Ralston at 140 lbs. and AJ Logan at 160 lbs.
‘We wrestled really, really well. The region was tough; probably the toughest region in the state,? said Couch. ‘Those guys gave wrestled tough all year and those guys are in position to place in the state tournment. You couldn’t ask for anything more.?